A Barefoot Lemon
by Murkay
Summary: Jack invites Liz to his East Hampton's Home.
1. Chapter 1

'Jack, you wanted to see me?'

'Yes Lemon, come in'

Jack is sat at his desk with Jonathon at his side as he waits for Jack to finish signing off some papers before excusing himself from their conversation.

'What are you doing this weekend?

'Its action packed actually, I plan on catching up with my DVR, I plan on watching episodes of the Barefoot Conteesa from season one onwards. Ina really is a true inspiration and then I will order some takeout food'

'Lemon, why don't you come with me to the East Hampton this weekend? My neighbour has invited me round for lunch on Saturday and since Avery is away in Egypt. I thought you could join me?'

'There letting a pregnant woman enter Egypt?'

'Yes the network executives thought it would be a good idea, you know with all her spare hormones she can retaliate those protesters and after all she is the only one that can afford petrol bombs, due to her new promotion.'

'Yeh, so, East Hamptons huh? That's a little above my pay grade Jack'

'Lemon, Mexico is a little above your pay grade'

'Yes, but this means I would have to dress like...like a lady woman'

'Granted, so no small town lesbian outfits if you please'

XXX

It's mid morning on Saturday and Jack is parked up on Riverside Drive. He takes out his cell in order to ring Liz to signal that he is waiting outside ready to pick her up and make their way to the Hamptons. Tapping on the steering wheel as he waits an attractive woman catches his eye in his rear view mirror. Running his eyes up her toned legs, she is dressed in tight fitting, pale pink dress. She looks like a goddess as her hair bounces and shines whilst catching the morning sun. Studying her movements he notices her heading towards the car and is surprised to see her reach for the car handle.

'Lemon' Jack is trying to suppress his shock that the attractive woman he was ogling was in fact her.

'Morning Jack'

'Morning Lemon, you look...appropriately dressed...for the Hamptons'

'Thank you Jack'

Jack starts the car to then input the address into his Sat Nav. It calculates the journey will take a little under 2 hours to arrive at their destination.

'Is this your first time visiting the East Hamptons Lemon?'

'Technically yes, but I watch Barefoot Contessa so much that I feel like I have been there. I can vision her entire house layout if I close my eyes, I even have a fire route planned '

'Yes, well this will be exciting for you'

XXX

Shortly after their journey starts the Sat Nav batteries run out and Jack's recollection of his numerous homes dissolve into a vague recall of where his summer house is located. Burying her head in the map Liz is unaware that they have arrived. Jack has pulled up into his neighbours drive and pulls out from the passenger's seat a bouquet of hydrangeas as a gift for the host.

'Lemon, why don't you take these?'

Liz exits the car and is struggling to carry her purse and the bouquet. With no free hand she tries to adjust her dress which has crept up her thighs only further demonstrates that Lemon is not from these parts.

'Lemon, will you make yourself presentable?'

Jack walks towards a helpless Liz to which she has opened out both her arms to demonstrate they are occupied. Jack forcefully tugs down on the bottom of her dress and adjusts it to the original length before wresting his hands on her hips.

'There you are Lemon'

'Thank you Jack' Liz responds like a child

They make their way up the stairs and stand patiently on the front porch. Jack looks at Liz waiting to see her reaction.

'What Jack? What's wrong? Do I have something on my face?'

'No' with a cheeky smile

'What is it?'

'I can't wait to see your face, call yourself a fan?' Jack's eyes are thin and his smile is wide with anticipation

'JACK' Jack's neighbour swings open the front door to great him with a homely embrace. Jack pulls away as he is eager to make the introductions.

'Ina Garten this is Liz Lemon, Liz Lemon this is Ina Garten'

Liz is standing on the porch pinching herself as she stares at her food idol standing before her. Ina is holding out her arms and willing for her to come into her bosom.

'I want to go to there'

The hug is even better than the drug induced one she shared with Oprah she forgets to remember that it was in fact a teen.

'Come in, come in'

Ina is waving her guests in and escorts them into the hub of her home. The kitchen is decorated in a country French style and is just like how you see it on The Barefoot Contessa show. Running her hands along the kitchen counter Liz spots the measuring cups and pleads with Ina to let her hold them. Cradling the measuring cups in her arms Jack leans over her should to whisper.

'I know you are really excited at the moment, but you need to cool it'

'Jack I made you your favourite!'

Jack begins to wave his index finger at Ina, pleading with her not to reveal his favourite dessert. Ina is oblivious to his request.

'Lemon Cake! You know Liz; every time Jack comes for lunch he insists that I make him a Lemon cake.'

'Really?' Liz turns her head round to face an uncomfortable looking Jack

As Ina chats with her guests she picks up from where she left off and continues to make the lemon glaze which she will pour over the cake to give it an extra kick.

'Liz, do you want to taste the glaze before I pour it on the cake?'

Liz's eyes widen with the opportunity to taste the glaze and she reaches out her index finger to take a generous helping. Being extra careful she places her free hand under her index finger so that there are no drips. Suddenly she can feel Jack's tight grasp round her wrist; his hold is so strong that it spins her around and before she knows it her lemon glaze finger is in his mouth. She can feel him gently sucking on her finger making sure that he tastes everything. Ina stands watching the pair whilst focusing on Jack's wedding ring until he releases her finger from his mouth.

'There was a drip, you were going to spill'

'Liz dear, why don't you wash your hands and then you can go out to the garden and help Jeffery set the table?'

Liz washes her hands and makes her way to the garden.

'Ina, I want to thank you again for clearing space in your schedule'

'Well, when you called and insisted that I make lunch for you and your friend this weekend and to then make plans for for my camera crew to film Who Do You Think You Are with Justin Bieber I could hardly say no.'

'I understand that you had Diane Sawyer originally scheduled so I want you to know that I appreciate you doing this'

'How are you anyway?'

'Never better'

'I see you got married?'

Jack looks down at his hand to closer examine his wedding ring to which he wears with pride.

'Yes I did, you heard that I accidently married Liz.'

'I did, I also seen the press conference she held on NBC News'

'It was a big mistake.' Jack stretches out his arms to better illustrate the extent of his mistake.

'Really Jack? From what I see, it doesn't look like you made a mistake; it looks like you made the right choice?'

Ina can see in Jack's face that he had never thought of the notion before that perhaps being married to Liz was the right choice. The truth is he was actually still married to her. He had been avoiding signing the papers ever since their meeting with Jeffery Weinerslave. This was something he was going to have to face soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

'I'm sorry Jack I didn't mean to pry; I was only making an observation'

'Yes, well, why don't I take this salad out to the garden and we can sit down for lunch?'

Following closely behind Jack, Ina carries out the Salmon which she begins plating up in front of her guests and passes out her generous portions. As they sit at the table the discuss politics, it is normally a faux pas to discuss politics at the table but Jack is always keen to discuss Ina's time when she worked at the White House. Listening to the conversation Liz is sitting back in her chair after scrapping her plate clean and is now ready for the next course.

'Why don't I make a pot of tea to go with the Lemon Cake?'

The group nodded together to which Ina stands up to then start clearing.

'Ina, I'll help you with that?'

'No dear, you just relax'

Ina is quick to clear to then make her way back with a fresh pot of tea. Pouring the hot tea into the china cups and passing to her guests Ina is eager to steer the topic away from politics.

'So Liz, what's it like being married to Jack?'

'Oh no, Jack had our marriage annulled, we're not married anymore'

'I'm confused, so why do you still wear your wedding ring Jack?'

Jack beings to nervously laugh into his cup and makes the excuse that he can't talk because his mouth is full of hot liquid. Liz then offers to speak on his behalf.

'He wears his wedding ring because...' Liz looks at Jack for guidance on the answer. 'He married Avery in a small ceremony after the annulment?'

Jack shakes his head

'Okay, ok, he wears his ring because Avery doesn't know that we got married by mistake and hasn't had the courage to tell her yet?'

Jack takes a large gulp of his tea to then shake his head again. With each guess Liz's is becoming more and more confused herself.

'Wait' Holding out a finger to point to him. 'Jack, are we STILL married?'

The nervousness in Liz's voice forces him to swallow and answer her

'Ok, it's time to go Lemon'

Moving up from his chair Jack stands to finish his tea which continues to burn the back of his throat. Taking hold of Liz's arm he removes her from her seat and begins to usher her away from table, he is quick to turn round and thank Ina and Jeffery.

'I want to thank you for having us for lunch today, we will see ourselves out'

A fast paced Jack makes his way through the house and is refusing to talk to Liz. It is only when Jack exits the house he lets go of her arm to grab his car keys from his pocket. Retrieving his keys Jack looks up to see Liz walking down the drive.

'Lemon, get in the car'

Liz sharply turns round to face Jack

'Lemon? Don't you mean Mrs Donaghy get in the car?'

Jack rolls his eyes to emphasise how ridiculous she is being.

'I'm going to walk, I need to clear my head'

Jack jumps in the car and takes the short journey next door to his house all the while watching Liz in his rear view mirror. Liz is instantly regretting her decision to walk as her high heels are beginning to pinch her feet, she is grateful for the distraction but the topic of her marriage to Jack is still at the forefront of her mind no matter how severing the pain.

Jack is sat at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Liz to arrive. His hands are clasped together and his body is hunched over his legs as he waits. He can hear the door open and enters a calm Liz. Unaware of Jack watching her she shuts the door behind her and rests her hand on the door to help her balance as she release her feet from her high heels. Jack has never seen her barefooted before, with all her feet hang-ups he wonders why as he has never seen a more beautiful pair. She lets out a sigh of relief and drops her shoes to the floor as she turns round she sees Jack waiting for her. Looking at each other is all they can do; neither can say a word until Liz finds the strength to question him.

'I signed the papers Jack'

'I know I know' Jack finds the energy to stand

'You asked me to sign them'

'I did'

'You said that our marriage was a technicality that it would be remedied and yet you didn't sign the papers yourself.'

Waiting for an answer, she contemplates. Ever since their meeting with Jeffery Weinerslav it had never been made clearer to her that throughout her years with Jack and as much as she ignored it, she was already in a relationship with him. Yes, she couldn't identify what kind of relationship it was but they are together in some weird way none the less. Her next question if asked could potentially change that forever but she was now ready to take the next step.

'Are you going to sign the papers?'

That single moment hit Jack like of tone of bricks; he was faced with a fork in the road. It's was going to be the point in his life, when he would look back and say. I had the chance and I blew it or that was the best decision I ever made. Jack had a choice; in fact he has two choices. He could say 'Yes' he was ready to sign the papers, ready to marry Avery, ready to have their baby and ready to start the life that he always wanted. Or he could say 'No', he wasn't ready to sign the papers, not ready to marry a woman he barely even knew let alone loved. Over the years he had his reservations and as much as he ignored it and as much as he pushed the notion out of his head and made excuses for how he felt. Now was the time he was going to be honest with himself.

'Why did you come here with me?

'Jack I asked you a question first'

'It's important, I want to know'

'I came because you asked me to?'

'Because I asked you to that's a lame reason Liz, I need to know why, why we feel the need...the need to attend events together, to talk on the phone for all hours of the day and every day, making sure we are the first and the last person that we see'

With each question that Jack asks back to Liz, his voice grows concerned as he searches for an answer because for him, he already knows the answer to Liz's and he needs to know that he is not going to make a mistake. Liz is growing angry as he is forcing her to be the one to answer his questions and she has reached her boiling point.

'Fine, I came here, because I wanted to be with you'

Taking a deep breath in and looking Jack in the eye, she reiterates her statement.

'I want to be with you Jack'

Taking small steps towards Liz he reaches out his arms to place them on her hips and slowly pushes her body against the door making sure the gap between them has closed.

'And I have no intensions of signing those papers'


	3. Chapter 3

Jack leans in; his mouth is parted and is ready to take his reward.

'Jack wait'

Liz has placed two fingers over Jack's mouth to stop him from going any further.

'If we are going to do this, be together, then I can't start our relationship being the other woman, I want you, I mean us, to tell Avery that we are going to be together.'

Jack understood Liz's request, he knows her too well to know that she would never have an affair with him after all he couldn't share his heart, there is no room for another as it is occupied with his love for her. He knew that she would never be the one to break up a happy relationship and they both wanted to start with a clear conscious.

'Ok, we will do this right. So that means...we can't?'

Liz is nodding her head and flashing those big chocolate drop eyes at him

'We can't do anything until we tell Avery'

'I guess I have waited long enough for this, a few more days can't be that bad...can it?'

Liz places her arms onto his chest to gently push him back. She makes her way upstairs to change into something more comfortable and looks in Jack's wardrobe were she finds his old Princeton sweater. Removing her dress she slips into the sweater, pulling down on the oversized shirt she takes a deep breath in to smell Jack's sent and skips downstairs.

Jack is making a pot of tea since he never got to enjoy the one he had at Ina's. He can hear Liz making her way downstairs and shouts to see if she would like a cup too?

'Do you want a cup of tea?'

'Yeh'

Jack is rummaging in the fridge checking the dates for the milk and when he closes the door Liz appears behind it. There she is, dressed in his favourite sweater, the shirt barely covering her crouch and her legs are exposed in their full glory.

'Ok, were going back to Manhattan'

'What?'

'Liz, I can't stay in this house for a single second more, looking at you the way you look in that sweater, knowing that I can't have you...I don't have the willpower. You need to go upstairs and change and I will start the car.'

XXX

Jack pulls up onto Riverside Drive; it doesn't feel like he was there earlier that same day. With the meter still running he turns to say his goodbye.

'So, I'll see you Monday at work?'

'Jack we need to get past the hard part so we can get to the best part'

'Ok, Monday it is'

'You can catch up with some business stuff tomorrow to take your mind off it'

'The only thing I plan on doing tomorrow is taking a VERY cold shower'

Liz in her attempt to keep the goodbye asexual punches Jack on the arm to then exit the car.

XXX

It's Monday morning, finally Liz thinks as she makes her way to the elevator and pressing the button that will take her straight to her floor. As she makes the short journey she carries a fresh cup of coffee as last night's sleep was restless with excitement and anxiety. Entering the writers room she feels calm, she takes her seat at the head of the table and waits for everyone to take there's.

'Morning everyone'

All the writers grumble to answer her

'Morning'

'Ok, Frank, I need a rundown from the news stories over the weekend'

As she sits back in her chair she drowns out the white noise from Frank's mouth to look round the room to then focus on the doorway. She shoots up from her seat to see an ecstatic Jack enter.

'She's back...Avery's back'

The writers watch to see Jack literally jumping with excitement as he makes his way towards Liz. The writers had managed to catch Avery on NBC News where she was covering the recent protests in Egypt and assumed Jack was excited about her safe return.

'I sent a car to collect Avery from the airport to then take her straight here'

'Here, here to 30 Rock? You want to tell her here?'

'No, not in the writer's room, in my office of course, I'll call you when she arrives'

Liz slumps back in her chair to see that the writers have continued with the rundown of news stories, she is surprised that they are not intrigued by her conversation with Jack.

'Hold on, you're not going to ask me what that was about?

'What, what was about?'

'That with Jack, just then, our conversation'

'Liz, you and Jack, Jack and you? You're always doing this. Your always having these private conversations that no one is privy too, no one gets an invite into your little world, a world which only the two of you inhabitant's it. But if you want to tell us.'

'No I don't, shut up Frank and continue please'

It's not long before Cerie interrupts their morning meeting to let Liz know that Jack would like to see her in his office right away. Her body feels heavy as she pulls away from the table, her head is feeling light headed and she loses her balance a little as she rises to her feet.

'Are you ok Liz?'

'Yeh, I'm fine' she takes hold of the table to steady herself

'You don't seem fine'

'I'm going to do this; it's just a little overwhelming'

'What's overwhelming?'

'The thing, the thing that I am going to do. I have to do this, I need to do this, I want to do this'

With that Liz leaves and makes her way to Jack.

XXX

Entering Jack's office Liz has been informed by Jonathan that Avery is in making her way up from the foyer. On entering Jack holds out his hands to take Liz's to assure her that they are in this together. Avery enters the office to witness Jack and Liz in the middle of their intimate moment.

'What's going on here?'

'Avery, please take a seat'

Avery is too riled to take a seat and stands in protest of Jack's request.

'Answer me Jack, what the hell is going on here?'

'Avery, I'm going to be honest with you, Liz and I were married by mistake in Saint Esclavage and I have no plans of divorcing her, do you understand what I am saying?'

Avery is shell shocked by Jack's bluntness and is left speechless; she runs her hands over her baby bump to comfort herself. After a few moments of silence she lets out a sigh of relief.

'Well Jack, since you are being honest with me. I guess I should be honest with you too. So here it is, I guess I won't needing this anymore'

Pulling out a cushion from beneath her maternity dress she confronts Jack and Liz with her pregnancy hoax. Jack and Liz take a seat on the couch and try to take in what they have just seen.

'I'm not pregnant... I'm a spy'

Jack and Liz can't respond and instead are forced to listen to what she has to say.

'I was sent here to spy on the NBC network. I needed someone who was close to the now late Don Geiss, knowing that you were to be his successor I knew I had to establish a relationship with you. I carried out a background check on your history with women; the research file was extensive Jack. I discovered that you are quick to fall in and out of love so I knew I could win you over but without getting you hurt. But when I saw the way you took care of Liz, you know the day you picked her up from the dental surgery, I knew it then you were in love with her, I knew straight away from reading your file that how you felt about Liz was unlike any of the other women you dated before, you were truly in love, so I had to step up my game. I knew I had to find some way of distancing you from Liz and so I pretended I was pregnant.'

'But the wedding, you were prepared to go ahead and marry me for the sake of your commitment to your job?'

'Unlike you Jack, I speak fluent French, I spoke with the priest before the ceremony, who do you think organised the loss of Liz's luggage, arranging for all the other stores to be closed and arrange for a sports shop as an only alternative for an outfit, I had to establish to the priest that Liz was the bride.'

'What kind of people do you work for?'

'The Fox Network'

'The betrayal'

'Look, Jack, Liz, I know that you are pretty upset about the whole Fox Network espionage but at least something good came out of this. You got to realise that you belong together you're like NBC's very own Booth and Brennan'

'Don't even mention a Fox Network show in my presence'

'I'm just saying that's how Avery C's it'

Avery couldn't help but feel a little relieved and proud of herself as she nodded goodbye to Jack and Liz as she walked out of their lives.

Jack turned round to face Liz as they sat closely on the couch. A couch where they sat together many times before, a couch where they enjoyed a drink together, cake together and now a kiss together. Leaning in Jack was finally able to take his reward. Breaking away from the kiss, their faces filled with wide smiles. Jack in his moment of ecstasy shouts out to Jonathan.

'Jonathan, call Pete and tell him that Liz will be taking the rest of the week off and so will I for that matter'

Jack stands up and carries Liz off the couch and up into his arms.

'Come on, we are going home so I can squeeze my Lemon.'

THE END


End file.
